Linnaeus Launches Unique Nursing Support Team
3 years ago 
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A veterinary group has launched a dedicated central team to help further support and develop their nurses.
Linnaeus, which is part of Mars Veterinary Health, has introduced its unique central support veterinary nursing team (CSVNT) to help its nursing population – which makes up almost half of its associates – develop a career framework which facilitates the skill set development of RVNs throughout their careers.
At the heart of this strategy are three key priorities – or pillars – which focus on: student and patient care assistant experience; the professional development of nurses; and a preceptorship (post-registration programme) to support the transition from ‘day one’ to ‘year one’ nurses in Linnaeus multi-disciplinary specialist led referral hospitals.
Andrea Jeffery, pictured, joined Linnaeus last year as chief nursing officer, a unique role within the veterinary sector which ensures the nursing team are represented at executive board level, and has spearheaded the development of the group’s CSVNT.
Andrea said: “We want to ensure Linnaeus has a veterinary nursing population which is supported and developed in order to reach its full potential in its ability to deliver best patient care.
“To help achieve this, we aspire to enable the patient care and nursing team to achieve success through supportive, well managed training programmes, which our newly-established central support team will help to deliver.
“This will ensure the structure of our nursing teams can help each individual meet their personal goals, with clear progression opportunities.
“As such, the support team has been divided into three key areas, with each team having a clearly defined role in progressing Linnaeus veterinary nurses and patient care assistants.”
As part of the support team, student experience managers Trish Scorer and Lucy Middlecote will be responsible for developing a strong veterinary nursing population within Linnaeus.
PILLARS
This will be through a standardised and supportive training approach for student veterinary nurses, patient care assistants and those clinical supervisors and mentors who support them, encouraging a ‘grow your own’ system in which the nursing team see Linnaeus as a life-long career where they can meet their full potential.
Meanwhile, post-registration programme managers Sam Thompson and Sophie Venables are responsible for supporting early career nurses to develop their skills in referral nursing and will support the development of ‘day one’ RVN post-registration training within the group’s multidisciplinary referral practices.
Professional development managers Claire Roberts (primary care) and Vicky Ford-Fennah (referral) have responsibility for supporting nurses who join the group, along with the co-ordination, development and implementation of professional development for RVNs and patient care assistants who want to progress their skills and knowledge in specific areas of patient care. do not want to progress to RVN training.
Andrea said: “We value every one of our diverse and talented team, which was a key driving force behind creating this bespoke support service.
“Together, we will work to create a robust nursing infrastructure which helps ensure our nursing teams not only feel supported and achieve career development, but are fully utilised and want to stay with us throughout their careers.”
For more information about Linnaeus, and veterinary nursing team opportunities within the group, visit www.linnaeusgroup.co.uk or search for Linnaeus on LinkedIn.
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